The State Police Debate

I believe that the roundtable was part of the objectives for which the institute was established. To dialogue, study and conduct research on important and even not too important issues that pertain to the nation and its democracy and advise or make inputs to the nation’s legislature, the academia and even the general public as […]

I believe that the roundtable was part of the objectives for which the institute was established. To dialogue, study and conduct research on important and even not too important issues that pertain to the nation and its democracy and advise or make inputs to the nation’s legislature, the academia and even the general public as raw materials grounded in extensive study.

The roundtable on Monday presented the very best of what intellectuals can say about the desirability or otherwise of state police in Nigeria. Professor Nuhu Yaqub and Professor Cyprian Okonkwo, one a Political Scientist and the other a lawyer, gave some thought provoking dimensions on the other sides of the agitation and the recalcitrance of certain forces against the national reform.

Let me say as a matter of introduction that such dialogues as the one by NILS in my view represent one of the missing links that are responsible for the poor political intercourse in the country. It will appear as I am optimistic that one of the major problems that policy faces in the country revolves around the weakness in knowledge on the part of most especially those who are to implement it.

A fact is that Nigerian elites at no matter what level are lazy as far as reading is concerned. They hate books and improvements, in fact that is why people in positions of authority in a  great deal abhor academicians and see them as either opposition personalities and or mere trouble makers.

One of the traits of leaders in other parts of the world is that they are widely read and that is why more often than not are on top of situations in their climes and are at liberty to make informed choices and decisions on issues even if their judgments fell short of the popular expectation and in fact what ought to be.

The need to build the capacities of public officers in Nigeria therefore cannot be over emphasized in view of the fact that the nature of national challenges that the nation faces require informed, wise and strategic choices to resolve. If public officials don’t read widely, it becomes an issue and I am optimistic there is a severe dearth of capacity in our polity as we can see from the topmost positions in the country.

Let it not be assumed however that by the fact that one is a PhD, he or she does not need to keep updating self. That is why in Nigeria today we have several professors and doctors that are professing and doctoring ignorance. Reading is essential and necessary for those in positions of power and responsibility no matter their backgrounds if they desire to be effective and relevant.

I share all the thoughts and concerns that those Nigerians arguing against the establishment of state police have. I share the sentiments of especially, the parliament my constituency by association. It is true that battles have been raging between governors and members of the National Assembly especially. It is true that those who are in Abuja lose relative touch with the hierarchy of government at the state level and thus a vacuum is often created that is exploited by ‘domestic’ politicians who are close to the seat of power at state capitals and have the listening ears of the governors even if by the virtue of proximity.

It is often very easy for these domestic political actors to pitch the national legislators collision course with the governors on either trivial issue or matter of suspicion. This in my view has been a recurring phenomenon which needs to be gotten right if peace and harmony were to reign between state and national political office holders. A s work in progress, I believe we may soon begin to see the denudation of this frosty romance which was previously real but turned sour due to one reason or the other.

Yes, many people would argue that if states establish police force, the governors would abuse the system. This may not be completely false but I’m worried that the nation’s federal system is failing to work not because of certain peculiarities but due to the fact that Nigerians especially the practitioners are not ready to let it work.

I have argued persistentely  that this so-called democracy is not an end but a process. It is not achieved through short cuts but by attitudinal compliance of the citizenry. Why would a president or some of his powerful ministers sit in Abuja and continue to dictate what happens in all the states?

If the constitution empowers the National Assembly to make laws for good governance of the federation, it has equally empowered the State Assembly to make laws for the good governance of the state. If the center has executive, legislature and judiciary so has the state. There are federal and state courts. There are federal and state offences so what are we talking about?

Why would the federal level try to push down prison matters to concurrent responsibility list while it is insisting that police must remain on the exclusive list? There are a lot of other very relevant questions that are being asked but swept under the carpets of sentiments whenever bold steps are insinuated that are capable of propelling the nation out of its federal incapacities.

People argue about true federalism. It does not exist I also share the view. What you have all over the world are federal systems that are working and some that are not. Unfortunately the one here isn’t working. One of the reasons why it is not is because we are refusing sometime violently to make it work. Placing the police on the concurrent list is one such example.

I hate the common logic that the governors would abuse state police. Tell me what presidents in Abuja from Obasanjo to Goodluck Jonathan have done. Was Olusegun Osoba not refused getting out of government house in Abeokuta in 2003 by the federal police? Courtesy of the powers that be. The reason was simple, to snatch the states away from Alliance for Democracy/ that was achieved.

As recent as this tenure. Was Timipriye Sylva not denied access to where his party was doing primary elections in Yenagoa? That was another sitting governor, a chief security officer of a state denied access by a police that was controlled from Abuja. So, what we are saying is that it is legitimate for the president to commit abuses while it is illegal for the governor to do same.

My submission on this issue is that the right frame of mind and attitude are critical if democracy is to be in place in our country. We cannot continue to approbate and reprobate. Its either it is done right or not, Nigerian political elite must live up to its responsibilities. Face issues and not chase shadows.

Democracy is turnkey project. Leaving essential parts of it out cannot lead a people out of the woods. I share in some of the reservations raised against the issue but energy must be put on how these fears will be averted and not just throwing the baby with the bath water.